by Terry Mixon
Off in the distance, they could see what the builder had wanted them to look at. A grand city spread out across the hills on the other side of a river. Tall buildings made of metal and glass soared high into the sky. It was magnificent.
But there was something wrong with it. There were no lights. Of course, during the daytime, one wouldn’t expect a lot, but the city looked dead. Some of the buildings seemed damaged. One had no facing. He could see the rooms inside it. Another had fallen—though it was still intact—and leaned up against a neighbor.
“I don’t think we’ll be finding any helping hands over there,” Penny said. “No signs of smoke, though. This didn’t happen recently.”
“Hey!”
They looked down at the hissed whisper. It was the CIA man, Ulysses. “There’s something on the other side of the hill.”
They made their way down and followed him to where some of the other soldiers were looking out with binoculars. Unlike before, they looked a little spooked. On edge. The sky was hazy over the treetops.
“Is that smoke?” he asked.
One of the troops nodded. “It hasn’t gotten heavier, so I’m thinking campfires rather than a forest fire.”
Krueger looked over the area for a moment. “That’s a lot of people. It might be an army camp. If so, we’ve stumbled into someone else’s war.
Perfect. Clayton shook his head and wondered how the hell they were going to survive this.
* * * * *
Jess adjourned to the mess hall with Harry and Cabot. Tea and coffee all around.
“As much as I hate to say so, Queen is right in one respect,” she said. “We can’t fight against a galactic empire with just the few people we have at our disposal. Hell, we can’t even read the language.”
“I can help with that last problem,” Cabot said over her tea. “I can read and speak the language of the Asharim. And I can teach it to you. Some of our overseas folks tell me it’s an easier second language than English.
“When it comes to working with the equipment, though, all bets are off. We have some old gear, but nothing like all the things you’ve found. The gate was the biggest piece of equipment and it took a lot of trial and error to get it working.”
Harry sipped his coffee. “Where did you get it?”
“It was part of a hijacked load of equipment. A lot of human escapees back then were smugglers, pirates, and thieves. They lived on the edges of civilized society. We’d brought it back to the solar system to try to set up colonies that the Asharim didn’t know about.
“A lot of worlds were lightly populated in the sphere they control. It’s all a hodgepodge of linked places. I’ve heard of wealthy homes having each room on a different planet, all the gates open continuously. I suspect the lower classes in their civilization are a bit more sedate, but it just goes to show that you never can tell.”
“What do we do now?” Harry asked. “I sent a team over to the cylinder. They can see us outside, so we’re in the right place. I’m still at a loss as to the planet, though. We need to send a lifter down and find out what it is.”
Jess considered their situation. “Clayton is missing. Either the US has him or he managed to escape, but hasn’t gotten to where he can call us. At this point, I’m not sure it matters in how we proceed.
“We must find out where that ship went, and then we need to follow them. If we can stop them before the Asharim find out about us, so much the better. The problems on Earth are pressing, but not as much as what we’re doing out here.”
Harry shook his head. “We need to find out where Nathan came from. A base with a gate, obviously. One of the ones on the map we have, most likely. We need to secure all of them we can and destroy the rest. The absolute last thing we need is to have the US government, or God forbid, a bunch of lunatic killers from the Middle East, rushing out to all parts of the Asharim Empire, or whatever it is.”
“It’s a corporate government,” Cabot said. “Each business has a vote based on their income. The richest obviously do their best to keep a lock on making money. It’s pretty cutthroat.”
Jess allowed herself a sigh. “I know letting Queen go is going to cause us trouble, but that was the best of a bad set of options. How do we handle him?”
Harry shrugged. “I say let him blunder around. At some point, we’ll need more firepower than we have and we’ll have to go to someone like the US. The key is to stay in control as long as we can. At least until we have some certainty that we can keep Earth safe.”
“Why does this feel like an old episode of Flash Gordon? With the Asharim playing Ming the Merciless.”
He laughed. “I haven’t thought of that show in forever. He’d be good, but I’d rather have Buck Rogers on my side.”
Cabot grinned slyly. “Isn’t your name Rogers? I think you just got a new nickname, Buck.”
“It beats the damned song. Maybe folks will stop sending me tennis shoes and sweaters for Christmas.”
They all laughed. Jess was glad they could find something humorous in all this. It might get pretty grim before it was all over.
* * * * *
Queen took the bag off his head. They’d slipped it on before they stuffed him into the van and drove him out into the city. It turned the corner just ahead of him, too far away for him to get a look at the license plate.
It didn’t matter. The FBI would find them. With all the upgraded cameras that came as a result of the anti-terrorism bills, they had eyes all over the place. It made the Patriot Act seem weak. Most ordinary citizens had no idea how much their government knew about them. Or what they could find out, if they really wanted to.
Now he’d turn the full might of the US loose on those crazy bastards. Before they got everyone killed. Or let the Chinese have tech that would let them dominate the world.
Even the conservative loons in Congress would be on board. Wouldn’t that be refreshing? The president wouldn’t even have to use executive orders to make it all happen.
They’d returned his phone to him, along with the rest of his personal property. He was standing on a street corner somewhere in Chicago, he assumed. People just kept walking, as if a car dropping off a man with a bag on his head was an everyday occurrence.
Perhaps in this part of town it was.
He dialed a number from memory. “This is Queen. I’m safe, but I need a pickup. Trace my location. I also need a plane to take me straight to Washington. I’ll need to meet with the president as soon as possible.”
These people thought they could get the best of the United States. Well, he was going to prove them painfully wrong. By the time he was done, they’d all be in some unnamed CIA black ops prison and the US would have a chokehold on the rest of the world. Then he’d see about extending that hold into the rest of the universe.
* * * * *
Nathan came back to the secured area after he and the men had pushed the Islamic nutjobs back to the rear of the ship. They’d killed a lot of them, but he’d lost some people, too. This fight might be more closely matched than he’d expected.
The men guarding the entrance hadn’t seen his mother for a while, so he went in search of her.
He didn’t find her. There were no other exits, but she was gone.
Or was she? The large sarcophagus could hold a person. The console was lit and showed a general human shape. Was she in there?
“Mother,” he said softly, laying a hand on the cold metal. “What have you done?”
He was on a ship going who knew where, fighting enemies that wanted to torture and kill him, and his mother was inside some alien machine. The day just kept getting better.
Well, you ate an elephant one bite at a time. First, he needed to kill or at least neutralize the terrorists. Then he could worry about the rest of his problems. Like getting back to Earth and saving his mother.
And just think, a few weeks ago he’d been bored.
He sighed and sat in the seat. He’d figure it all out. Then he’d get enough peop
le together to kill everyone that needed killing. He’d make sure he and his mother came out on top. They always did. This time it would just be more challenging.
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Continue on to read the first chapter of Tree of Liberty, book three in The Humanity Unlimited Saga.
Titles by Terry Mixon
The Empire of Bones Saga
Empire of Bones
Veil of Shadows
Command Decisions
Ghosts of Empire
Paying the Price (June 2016)
The Humanity Unlimited Saga
Liberty Station
Freedom Express
Tree of Liberty (August 2016)
Anthologies
Dirty Magick: Los Angeles
Dirty Magick: New Orleans
The adventure continues in Book Three of The Humanity Unlimited Saga, coming in August 2016.
Tree of Liberty
“You’re asking us to take a lot on faith,” General Jim Wayland said. “This all sounds like some kind of drug induced fantasy. You haven’t been smoking the wacky weed, have you, Mister Secretary?”
Josh Queen, the secretary of state for the United States of America, glared at the man in Army green. “No. And, I came prepared to demonstrate this in a way that even you can understand, General.”
He rose from the table where he’d just finished briefing the president, vice president, national security advisor, director of homeland security, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“The scientists tore the wrecked ship apart and found a stash. It had this inside, among other things.”
The pistol he pulled from his case was sleek and dangerous looking. The secret service had thrown a kicking, screaming hissy fit when he’d forced them to allow it into the meeting. Only the president’s stern insistence had let that happen.
Queen laid it in front of the general. “I suppose I could blow a hole in something to demonstrate it, but that seems likely to get me shot. I’m sending it off with you to test for yourself. I have no idea how many shots it has left, so be sparing.”
He cued the video of the weapon blowing a nice chunk out of a concrete wall. Everyone looked suitably impressed.
President George Blankenship shook his head. “Based on everything you’ve showed me, I’m inclined to believe this is exactly as bad as you think it is. Until I say different, we treat this as the most serious issue on the table. Everything we’ve seen is now classified top secret/SAP under the code word ‘Prometheus.’
“It seems fitting, since we’re stealing the knowledge of fire from the gods. Icarus was a close second, for obvious reasons. I want every effort expended to find the people who are spying on us and locate their little hidey-hole. Every bit of tech we can find and examine gets sent to Area 51 for secure testing.”
The general cleared his throat. “Sir, you realize we don’t actually have aliens there, right?”
The president smiled. “I’m not that far around the bend, thanks. It’s a secure area with the brightest minds we have. That has to be where we go to keep this secret.”
He looked at each of them for a moment. “Gentlemen, I want every angle examined. We have to get ahead of this or you’d best start learning Chinese. Call homeland with any breaks. Secretary of State Queen is in overall command. Dismissed.”
Once everyone was gone, the president gestured for Queen to join him at the couch off to the side. He poured them both a stiff drink.
“Is it really as bad as all that?” the president asked.
“Yes, sir. Potentially, it’s much worse. When former Agent Cabot said this could be an extinction level event, I was inclined to think she wasn’t overstating things. They could very well bring an alien invasion that we’d be powerless to stop.”
“War of the Worlds bad? That’s frightening. I want to know what you think of the main players. What kind of people are they? Who’s in the driver’s seat?”
Queen didn’t need to look at his notes. “That would be Jessica Cook. I looked her up before the meeting. An engineer with specialties in space construction. From what she said, she’s also the number two in their company. She has a bigger stake than Harry Rogers, in any case. I’m not sure why.”
“What do you think of her?”
“She’s bright and resourceful. She seemed like a straight arrow, but I’m disinclined to trust loose cannons not to roll over me. The same with Harry Rogers. He’s not a twisty bastard like his father. Frankly, those two don’t worry me nearly as much as Cabot and her group. They could be anywhere and want anything. We know nothing about them.”
Blankenship sipped his drink. “We will soon, I’m sure. What about Clayton Rogers?”
“I thought he was in it for the money. Now? Who knows? He’s a bad one, though not as bad as his ex-wife and other son. They’re lunatics.”
“I thought you were going to pick him up. Where are we on that?”
Queen grimaced. “Nowhere good. We haven’t found him or the team. It’s as if they vanished off the face of the Earth. And, with this technology, that’s a very real possibility.
“Someone called in the local government to do a search and rescue mission, so we had to break off our examination of the area. Maybe once the New Zealanders give up, we can find the gate they used.”
* * * * *
Clayton Rogers woke with a stiff back. The stone floor inside the cave was the most uncomfortable surface he’d ever slept on. At least they’d let him and his companions sleep without restraints.
That had really pissed the CIA operative off. Agent Ulysses wanted them tied up hand and foot. Where he thought they’d get off to, Clayton had no idea. They were trapped on an alien world with an army of some kind camped only a few kilometers away.
Without a way to control the quantum gateway deep inside the cave, they wouldn’t be going anywhere soon. And since they’d brought the controller from the other side along with them, odds were very good that no one would be able to come after them. They’d have to save themselves.
The troops had made an early morning approach to the encampment they’d spotted yesterday. The people looked human enough, based on the descriptions that they’d brought back, but primitive. Maybe Revolutionary War tech levels.
Whom they were fighting, no one could guess. Heavy-worlders were his personal guess. Though that seemed like it would be a very short fight.
A sailor came back with Penny Cash in tow. She’d just went out the use the concealed latrine the men had dug. She thanked the man and sat down across from Clayton. The third member of their abortive escape attempt, Mick Bird, was consulting with the Navy commander. His extensive outdoor skills might be critical in this situation.
“The army hasn’t moved,” Penny said. “That’s what they tell me. And it seems as though they might have been there for a while.”
“That seems odd,” he said. “I know armies used to stay in one place over long winters, but why now? It seems warm enough out there to me.”
She shrugged. “Damned if I know. Maybe they’re waiting for their opponents to do something spectacularly stupid. Or maybe they’re in hiding.”
“Not with all that smoke from the fires. Speaking of which, how will we cook the food that they’re hoping Mick can quietly kill? And how do they even know it’s edible? With our luck, we’ll poison ourselves.”
“There are some animals being cleaned at the army camp. They said they look like deer. Maybe they got through here at some point in the past and became part of the biosphere.”
Penny looked back toward the entrance. “While we’re alone, we should discuss escape plans. First, are we even going to try?”
He shook his head. “No. All we know about this world is the cave system here. Such as it is. We saw the dead city and the army. We haven’t left the hill and have no clue what awaits us out there. Let’
s not jump out of the frying pan just yet.”
“Then we have to make contact. We’re not going to stay hidden for very long.”
“That’s not our call,” he said dryly. “The men with the guns are in control now.”
That answer didn’t seem to satisfy her. “No disrespect to Commander Krueger, but I don’t like leaving my fate in the hands of others.”
“Believe it or not, I agree with you,” a voice said from the dark tunnel leading toward the entrance. Commander Krueger stepped out of the passage and gave them a nod. “Voices carry in places like this.”
The situation amused Clayton. Of course their plans had been overheard. That’s the way things had been going for them.
“How are your people holding up?” he asked the officer. “This has to be a strain on them.”
Krueger sighed. “It’s sinking in, but we’re special operations. We’ll hold together. I know I wasn’t the only one to lose sleep over the impossibility of our situation. And I’m worried about Ulysses. Worried enough to detail someone to keep an eye on him.”
Clayton nodded. “I hope we can find another way home. Hell, just a way to power the tablet would probably work for us.”
“If we’re in agreement about not having our fate in your hands,” Penny said, “what does that really mean?”
“That the mission has changed. We can’t get you back easily, so the new mission is to survive and learn about our new neighbors. If we make an agreement, will you abide by it?”
Clayton smiled. “I’m a straight dealer. If I make a deal, I stick to it. You’d just best be sure the details really mean what you think they do.”
“Well, this is pretty straightforward. I want you and your people to give me your parole. We all act as a team until we get back to Earth. If we can do that, then I don’t have to guard you like prisoners and Mister Ulysses can go piss up a rope.”
